Electronic games, such as video games, are extremely popular. Electronic video games provide elements unobtainable or impractical in real world only games, such as simulated weaponry, virtual structures, artificial creatures, and complex scoring systems. A disadvantage of electronic games is that players tend to exercise too little and spend too much leisure time indoors, missing out on the health, cognitive, and developmental benefits of vigorous outdoor play.
Physical activity of a player can be incorporated into a video game (e.g., Nintendo's® Wii™). However, players typically are limited to playing the games within restricted environments. Players must remain in the immediate area in front of a television and game console, which keeps players from ranging over large outdoor areas or truly running, chasing, or climbing. For example, players may interact with a gaming system via wired and/or wireless controllers. The controllers have a limited range, thus, limiting physical video games to indoor use within a limited range from a gaming console and/or home entertainment system. Even wireless controllers limit game play to a small portion of a room by ultra short-range signals used to allow a player to see the video monitor. Often game consoles must be positioned on a stable, flat surface, and require 110 volt connections to a power supply. These characteristics leave gaming consoles with little to no portability.
Games based on the geographic location of the players (geogames) implemented via an a hoc mobile network free players from the above-described range limitations. Mobile ad hoc networks are wireless networks comprising nodes that transfer packets peer-to-peer, without the packets necessarily traversing routers, access points, or other infrastructure. Nodes in a mobile ad hoc network are capable of moving around rapidly and dropping in and out of contact frequently and for potentially unbounded periods of time. As such, maintaining security in a geogame against cheating and other security attacks can be difficult.